OK, I'm in the "dream" planning stages for my next trip to Europe. Prague and Vienna is a contender.

So I get this Deutsche Bahn (DB) app for my iPhone and type in a hypothetical trip for tomorrow. All I really want to understand is how these stations, connection, etc work.

Attached is a screen shot. The way I understand it is this:

1) Train leaves from Prague hl.n station at 10:39 AM
2) I get on train "EC 77" headed towards Viener Neustadt Hbf
3) At 11:37, we stop at Pardubice hl.n
4) At 11:39, we head towards Ceska Trebova
5) At 12:17 we arrive at Ceska Trebova
.....

Now what has me confused are the following:

1) Only `TWO` minutes in Pardubice hl.n.
Does that mean people have two minutes to get off or board at that station?
2) At 14:58 we arrive Wien Simmering.
Is that Vienna? Why do we have yet another hour before the destination?
3) Do the "Platf. 2" mean "Platform 2", etc?
4) Is "Wiener Neustadt Hbf" central Vienna or some major train station there?

Please pardon my ignorance. It's been over 10 years since I've been to Europe and I didn't ride many trains then (one from Paris to Brussels and one from London to Paris).

stop does not mean you have to get out.
–
Rudy GunawanOct 20 '11 at 3:50

A two-minute stop is not uncommon for small stations.
–
JonasOct 22 '11 at 19:29

1

A two minute stop is common for big stations. For small stations stops are even shorter. The standard in Switzerland for example is 50 seconds. But that is not a problem. You only need a few seconds to get of or on a train after all. The longer stop in Breclav is so that they can swap engines. The current "main" station for Wien is Wien Meidling, but Simmering might be the best place to get off.
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Krist van BesienJun 27 '13 at 17:42

AH! So like Roflcoptr said, my destination ISN'T Vienna but actually PAST Vienna. I need to get a better map! lol So knowing that Vien Westbahnhof is city center, I should have made my destination there.
–
cbmeeksOct 19 '11 at 18:55

2

So you are using the DB journey planner. When you type "Wien" you will get a list with several alternatives, among which "Wien Westbahnhof", "Wien Simmering", ... but also "Wiener Neustadt".
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user766Oct 19 '11 at 19:03

First, the most important fact: Wiener Neustadt is not vienna! And here the other answers:

1) In Pardubice the train stops for 2 minutes. You don't have to change the train there I think. So it shouldn't be a problem for you.

2) Yes Wien Simmering is part of Vienna. It is not directly in the center, but it is the place where a lot of trains go through. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simmering_%28Vienna%29). The reason that it's still one hour to the destination is simple: You're destination is not in Vienna.

So it sounds like simply typing "Vienna" into the destination could literally take me miles out of the city center? That makes sense. Obviously, before I left for real I would need to find the closest train station to maybe the hotel I'm staying in. So to recap, looking at the pic, 14:58 Platform 2 Vien Simmering, does that mean the train arrives at Platform 2 AT Vien Simmering or does that mean I need to get off the train and find Platform 2 if I wanted to continue on traveling to Vien Simmering? Thanks
–
cbmeeksOct 19 '11 at 18:52

2

The train stops at platform 2 of the Wien Simmering station. You just have to get off there and proceed by metro or taxi.
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user766Oct 19 '11 at 18:58

There is no German word Platform; Plattform has a different rail-related meaning (a flat area at the front or back of an old freight car for loading). The word Gleis (track) is used in contexts like "The train to Vienna departs from track 8".
–
MaxSep 1 '14 at 7:19